Flying-foxes are flying gardeners, they sustain forests along eastern and northern Australia, pollinating native trees in national parks and reserves that have become separated or isolated by settlement. Flying foxes also spread tree seed, helping to landscape vast areas of Australia.
Many forest-dwelling threatened species depend on these ‘batty’ forests to provide them with food and accommodation, so flying foxes are keystone species. Conserve flying foxes and you also give threatened species, like the koala, a better chance of survival.
But what do flying foxes eat? Below is a list of nectar-rich, pollen-rich, and fruiting Australian plants which nourish our flying gardeners all year round.
If you want to help conserve this mutually beneficial relationship between our batty forests and our threatened species, please plant some of these trees in your garden. The best garden trees are identified in the list. Please also encourage others to plant them as well – no bush tucker garden in northern or eastern Australia would be complete without its batty species.
Many Australian forest plants which flower at night have co-evolved with nocturnal animal pollinators. According Western Sydney University senior lecturer Dr Justin Welbergen, “Several eucalypt species that are visited by flying-foxes produce greater amounts of nectar at night; this and other traits suggest a long coevolutionary history between these trees and the bats.” Dr Welbergen based this on the PhD thesis of Patrina Birt, where she says:
“The significance of Little red flying fox (Pteropus scapulatus) to the pollination of some eucalypts was further supported by the finding that the floral traits of Corymbia citriodora, C. henryi, C. tessellaris, Eucalyptus tereticornis and E. crebra, corresponded closely with the pollination syndrome of Chiropterophily, including brush-like, white-cream coloured flowers that were presented conspicuously on the periphery of the canopy.
They also displayed greater rates of anthesis, pollen availability and nectar secretion at night compared to the day. As a collective, the results of this study indicate a mutualistic plant-pollinator relationship between P. scapulatus and those eucalypts in which they forage, where the interaction between the two, while not at the exclusion of others, benefits both.”
Reference see: Birt, P., 2004. Mutualistic interactions between the nectar-feeding little red flying-fox Pteropus scapulatus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) and flowering eucalypts (Myrtaceae): habitat utilisation and pollination. PhD thesis, University of Queensland. (by email 9.2.2018).
If there is one palm gardeners should get rid of, it’s the cocos palm, also known as the queen palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana). Apart from being an invasive species, cocos palms injure and sometimes kill flying foxes.
Grow Bangalow or Alexander palms instead of cocos palms. They’re both trustworthy, single-stemmed palms with feathery foliage so they are good substitutes in suburban and municipal landscapes. These palm blossoms are important for honeybees, while their fruit nourish a variety of native birds and mammals, including flying foxes.
There are four species of flying fox in Australia:
Black flying-fox, (Pteropus alecto). Habitat: tropical and subtropical rainforest, paperbark forest, woodland and cultivated landscapes
Grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus). Habitat: rainforest, mangroves, paperbark forest, wet and dry sclerophyll (eucalypt) forest and cultivated landscapes. A threatened species;
Little red flying- fox, (Pteropus scapulatus). Habitat: from semi-arid inland regions to tropical and temperate sclerophyll forest, paperbark forest, and monsoon forest;
Spectacled flying fox (Pteropus conspicillatus). Habitat: tall rainforest and forest, mangroves or paperbark forest. A threatened species;
My thanks to Brisbane Bat Conservation & Rescue for supplying me with the resources to put this chart together, and I thank them for the invaluable work they do.
Jerry Coleby-Williams
15th March 2014, updated March 2018
Flying Fox Food Trees
Download this table as a pdf file – Flying Fox Food Trees
| Species | Common Name | Habit | Flowering | Fruit | Notes |
| Acacia macradenia | Zigzag wattle | Shrub | August | Possible pollen source | |
| Albizia lebbek | Lebbek | Tall tree | summer | Source of nectar. Excellent shade tree for large gardens. | |
| Alphitonia excelsa | Red ash | Tree | October to March | November to May | Food source for Black and Grey-headed flying fox |
| Angophora costata | Smooth-barked apple | Tall tree | December to January | Source of nectar | |
| Angophora floribunda | Rough-barked apple | Tall tree | September to February | Source of nectar | |
| Angophora costata subsp. leiocarpa | Smooth-barked apple, Rusty gum | Tall tree | November to February | Source of nectar | |
| Archontophoenix alexandrae | Alexander palm | Tree-like | November to December | January | Food source for Spectacled flying fox. Good garden tree |
| Archontophoenix cunninghamiana | Bangalow palm | Tree-like | February to June | March to July | Food source for Grey-headed flying fox. Good garden tree |
| Banksia integrifolia | Coastal honeysuckle | Shrub or small tree | Recurrent, all year round | Food source for Black and Grey-headed flying fox. Good garden tree | |
| Banksia serrata | Old man banksia | Shrub or small tree | February to May | Source of nectar. Good garden tree | |
| Buckinghamia celsissima | Ivory curl tree | Small tree | December to February | Possible source of nectar. Good garden tree | |
| Callistemon citrinus | Crimson bottlebrush | Shrub or small tree | November and March | Source of nectar. Good garden tree | |
| Callistemon salignus | White bottlebrush | Shrub or small tree | spring | Source of nectar. Good garden tree | |
| Castanospermum australe | Moreton Bay chestnut, Black bean | Tall tree | spring | Source of nectar | |
| Corymbia citriodora | Lemon-scented gum | Tall tree | may flower in any season | Source of nectar | |
| Corymbia gummifera | Red bloodwood | From mallee to tall tree | summer to autumn | Source of nectar | |
| Corymbia intermedia | Pink bloodwood | Tall tree | December to March | Source of nectar. Good garden tree | |
| Corymbia maculata | Spotted gum | Tall tree | May to September | Source of nectar | |
| Corymbia ptychocarpa subsp. aptycha | Swamp bloodwood | Tall tree | February to June and December | Source of nectar | |
| Corymbia tessellaris | Moreton Bay ash | Tall tree | summer | Source of nectar | |
| Corymbia trachyphloia | Brown bloodwood | Tall tree | January to May | ||
| Cupaniopsis anacardioides | Tuckeroo | Small to medium tree | May to July | October to December | Fruit a possible food source |
| Diploglottis australis | Native tamarind | Medium to tall tree | spring | spring to summer | Source of fruit, which can be used for jam making |
| Eucalyptus acmenoides | White mahogany | Tall tree | November to January | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus baileyana | Bailey’s stringybark | Tall tree | November to January | Source of nectar | |
| Elaeocarpus bancroftii | Johnson River almond | Medium to tall tree | autumn | summer | Source of nectar |
| Eucalyptus biturbinata | Grey gum | Tall tree | December to April | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus carnea | Broad-leaved white mahogany | Tall tree | October to December | Source of nectar for blossom bats | |
| Eucalyptus cloeziana | Gympie messmate | Small to tall tree | summer | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus crebra | Narrow leafed ironbark | Tall tree | autumn to spring | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus curtisii | Plunkett mallee (small eucalypt) | Small tree | December to January | Source of nectar. Good garden tree. | |
| Eucalyptus eugenioides | Thin-leaved stringybark | Tall tree | December to February | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus exserta | Queensland peppermint | Tall tree | November to February | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus fibrosa | Red ironbark | Tall tree | December to February | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus grandis | Flooded gum | Tall tree | March to May | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus melliodora | Yellow box | Tall tree | September to February | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus microcorys | Tallowwood | Tall tree | January to March | Source of nectar for Grey-headed and Black flying fox | |
| Eucalyptus miniata | Darwin woollybutt | Small to medium tree | January to September | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus moluccana | Grey box | Tall tree | February to April | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus pilularis | Blackbutt | Tall tree | December to March | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus planchoniana | Bastard tallowwood | Tall tree | Source of nectar | ||
| Eucalyptus propinqua | Grey gum | Tall tree | January to March | Source of nectar for Grey-headed and Black flying fox | |
| Eucalyptus radiata | Narrow-leaved peppermint | Tall tree | October to January | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus robusta | Swamp mahogany | Tall tree | winter | Source of nectar for Grey-headed flying fox | |
| Eucalyptus resinifera | Red mahogany | Tall tree | November to February | Source of nectar | |
| Eucalyptus tereticornis | Forest red gum | Tall tree | June to November | Source of nectar for black, grey-headed, little red and spectacled flying fox | |
| Ficus coronata | Sandpaper fig | Small tree | January to June | Source of fruit. Good garden tree | |
| Ficus fraseri | White sandpaper fig | Shrub to medium-sized tree | May to February | Source of fruit for grey-headed flying fox | |
| Ficus macrophylla | Moreton Bay fig | Tall tree | spring to summer | Source of fruit for black and grey-headed flying fox | |
| Ficus rubiginosa | Port Jackson fig | Tall tree | summer to winter | Source of fruit for all flying fox species | |
| Ficus obliqua | Small-leaved fig | Tall tree | April to June | Source of fruit for black and grey-headed flying fox | |
| Ficus virens | White fig | Tall tree | September to July | Source of fruit for spectacled flying fox | |
| Glochidion sumatranum | Cheese tree | Small to medium tree | spring to summer | April to May | Possible source of fruit |
| Grevillea pteridifolia | Fern-leaf Grevillea | Shrub to small tree | April to November | Source of nectar. Good garden tree | |
| Grevillea robusta | Silky oak | Tall tree | spring to summer | Source of nectar for black, grey-headed and little red flying fox | |
| Lophostemon confertus | Brush box | Tall tree | October to December | Source of nectar for black and grey-headed flying fox | |
| Lophostemon suaveolens | Swamp box | Tall tree | spring to summer | Source of nectar | |
| Melaleuca leucadendron (syn. M. leucadendra) | Cadjeput | Tall tree | recurrently, any time of year | Source of nectar for Little red and black flying fox | |
| Melaleuca viridiflora | Broad-leaved paperbark | Shrub or small tree | November to June | Source of nectar. Good garden tree | |
| Melia azederach | White cedar | Small tree | March to August | spring to summer | Source of fruit for spectacled flying fox. Seed toxic to humans. |
| Melicope elleryana | Pink-flowered doughwood | Small to medium tall tree | January to March | July to December | Possible source of fruit. Food plant for butterflies, including Ulysses butterfly |
| Pittosporum undulatum | Sweet pittosporum | Shrub to small tree | spring to summer | autumn | Possible source of fruit. Invasive native species. |
| Planchonella australis (formerly Pouteria australis) | Native plum, black apple | Tree | summer | autumn to winter | Source of fruit for spectacled, black and grey-headed flying fox. Slow growing, good garden tree |
| Pleiogynium timorense | Burdekin plum | Tree | winter | Flying foxes eat and disperse seed | |
| Syncarpia glomulifera | Turpentine | tall tree | September to October | Source of nectar | |
| Syzygium australe | Brush cherry | Shrub or tree | summer to autumn | late summer | Source of fruit for grey-headed flying fox. Good garden tree |
| Syzygium luehmannii | Riberry | Shrub or tree | November to December | December to February | Possible source of fruit. Resistant to psyllid. Good garden tree |
| Syzygium smithii (formerly Acmena smithii) | Lilly pilly | Shrub or tree | spring to summer | summer to autumn | Source of fruit. Resistant to psyllid. Good garden tree |
| Syzygium oleosum | Blue lilly pilly | Shrub or tree | late spring to winter | summer to spring | Source of fruit. Good garden tree |
| Corymbia henryi | Large-leaved spotted gum | Tree | autumn to spring | all year round | Source of pollen and nectar during cool seasons. Largest populations occur in the subtropics and inland from SE Qld and the Northern Rivers of NSW. Forest and park tree. |
Download this table as a pdf file – Flying Fox Food Trees
Jerry Coleby-Williams 
Really useful information – thanks. Just as soon as we get some decent rain I’ll be sure to pop a few of these fellas in the bottom yard. But for now I have enough of a job bucketing to keep the current young-uns going. It keeps me fit and off the streets though. 🙂
I am glad the bats like Planchonella australis fruit because I have one in my garden.
They beautiful fast growing adaptable trees.
I hope domestic fruit is good for bats too, because one sits in my fig tree just about every night.
I don’t mind though, because they are amazing creatures.
thanks again for your insightful and positive approach to these amazing native animals
There are a few fossils out there who don’t understand – and refuse to learn – that’s their problem. It’s important to realise how many sensible, pragmatic, and caring people there are in our society. They’re just too gentle or polite to cause a fuss or demand sound government policy and best horticultural practice. people like this come up to me all the time to say thanks for putting in a good word for beneficial native wildlife. There’s more votes in supporting flying gardeners than in vandalising our environment, and politicians may wake up to that reality.
Great info, Jerry. I find the big Silky Oak in our yard works really well as a decoy plant. The flying foxes would much rather suck the silky oak nectar than my almost ripe apricots. This way we both get a feed and everyone is happy!
Brilliant! Thanks for letting me know
Thanks so much for a great, positive article Jerry. As a bat carer myself, I despair at how many people dislike these super intelligent, valuable and endearing creatures. They are SO valuable to our environment. Humans are often so arrogant when it comes to other creatures as though we are the only species worth survival – without the others, we wouldn’t!!
Agreed. They are Australia’s most important native pollinators.
Please only plants indigenous trees, ask your local arborist
(I’m one, on the MNC NSW) or council or NPWS or Catchment Management Authority. SOOOOOO IMPORTANT FOR ALL OUR WILDLIFE!!!
Anyone is welcome to contact me: damian@airwalktreeservices.com.au
Hi Damian,
I appreciate your view. A couple of pointers. I try not to use capitals because people think they are being shouted at. Also, try not to use jargon. It’s a bit exclusive. I have no idea what an MNC NSW looks like and I may refuse to buy them a drink in the pub 🙂
Cheers
Jerry
Hi Jerry, if this hasn’t been answered already – a MNC NSW would, I presume, be a “Mid-North Coast, New South Wales”. I live on the CC NSW (Central Coast of New South Wales), and I’m pretty sure this abbreviation tendency stretches to at least as far as the Mid-North, if not all the way to the border. 😉 I do understand the capitalization can be confronting for some, but I think the author was just trying to emphasise a serious problem, that can occur with the best of intentions when non-native species are planted as ‘food’ for native species – the plethora of wild habitat choking from introduced species in NSW is testament to that, and the sad fact is that the problem has become seemingly so vast, that local and state authorities turn blind eyes rather than attempt to tackle the problem in any effective way whatsoever.
As a bush-regen volunteer, I know how crushing it can be to feel defeated by the toxic weeds that ultimately destroy the habitats and feeding grounds of our incredible and fast disappearing fauna, so I too implore for the planting, wherever possible, of native species over the ‘infiltrators’; although in a domestic situation (such as in a food garden), I think a good compromise is to plant a host of ‘natives’ amongst the imports so that there is choice available to the species we might be fortunate enough to host. Nine times out of ten, they will choose the indigenous flora over the introduced species (said she as a flock of king parrots devoured her tiny apples, ignoring the delicious lilli-pilli fruits available), and this way we can support our wildlife friends and feed ourselves as well, with minimum amount of harm done.
As always, Jerry, a brilliantly presented and well researched article. I am fortunate enough in my urban jungle to cohabit with two bat colonies, and enjoy visits from grey-headed and little reds, as well as the delightful micro-bats – cheeky night-nymphs of the dusky skies, who seem to chase the moths and are perpetually curious. I adore these amazing mammals that I watch fly out nightly, and wonder constantly at the ignorant misinformation that is often presented in media about them.
To me, they are not ‘smelly pests’, but heroes that go forth in rain, hail, storm, smoke; you have only to watch the lovely mums, weary with feeding and tending their young, fly out with babes attached – carrying an ever increasing weight as they fly sometimes many hundreds of kilometres to find food; or the very structured order in which they fly out, with ‘supervisors’ checking on and encouraging the new, inexperienced juvenile flyers; to know they are a much more complex and evolved animal than we give them credit for.
Surviving heat waves & droughts, floods and the menace of man, searching for new grounds to pollinate and bringing hope of new life everywhere they go – they are mini winged miracles. You are right; many species could not exist without them – including ours!
Yes: Mid-North Coast, NSW.
Thanks for the article. I have Golden Pendas in my garden. Last year they all flowered about the same time and we enjoyed watching the bats arrive at dusk. I believe these are also safe for bats, perhaps they could be added to the list. A joyful combination of beautiful yellow flowers and bats! Have you ever done a segment on bats on Gardening Australia?
Thanks for your comments Ann. Yes, I have made two important segments on flying foxes.
Use the search facility on the Gardening Australia website to see the most recent, ‘Flying gardeners’:
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/video/video_index_June2013.htm
Jerry
in my previous comments, I failed to thank you for the fabulous resource you so kindly offer you readers, with the PDF list of bat-friendly food trees provided in this post. This is a terrific tool for flora and fauna lovers, so thank you so much for making this freely available to all. I have been searching a reliable source like this for some time!
I was heartened to see that I have already quite a few, some by design others by happy accident, but one other lovely repercussion of having a resident bat colony, is that self-seeding bat food occurs without having to lift a finger!
The problem of course is when nasties like camphor laurels or privets get delivered gratis, via bat droppings (or bird droppings), once just has to pull those out pronto.
It’s very nice, though, when a lovely lemon gum or a Queensland cheese tree suddenly pops up, unexpectedly, thanks to a l little winged gardener!